Q2A

Got a question asking......

I am currently looking to career change and go into the childcare profession. However I
have quite a major stumbling block. My son is autistic and I receive carers allowance for
him, I cannot go into full time education due to his needs and I would lose the allowance,
therefore a fulltime course or apprenticeship would not work. Could I study from home or
part time and volunteer or even get paid work part time in a nursery? Any advice most
welcome

This is our reply.......

Hello, your enquiry came to us through QuickQ2A but it is really quite a detailed question
which we are unable to answer fully without a bit more information which is asked for on
the Q2AMax enquiry form. We have done the best we can here, if you would like to get in
touch again with a bit more information; whereabouts you are, how old your son is,
whether you are just on benefits, have support with your son, we would try to be more
specific in our reply. This is current reply:

We understand that you are looking for a career change and want to go into the childcare
profession but you would struggle studying full-time due to your parenting commitments.
Therefore you want a course where you can study from home or part-time or possibly get
paid part time work in a nursery or volunteer work.

We wonder what your current career is, and if this might offer any short-cuts into the
childcare profession? Also does this mean you are able to work some of the time at the
moment, and so perhaps have a network of support already in place.

Childcare is a broad term for a variety of jobs working with children. Such jobs include:

-Sure Start Children's Centre's - offering early learning, childcare, health advice and family
support for families with children up to age five.
- Crèches - providing occasional care for children under eight
- Toddler groups - Holding informal groups of parents and carers that meet locally with
their children on a regular basis, usually including children who are under five
- Preschools and playgroups - providing play time and often early education to under fives
- Day nurseries - providing care for children from birth to four or five and beyond, often
integrated with early education and other services
- Out-of-school or 'kids' clubs - offering school-aged children a safe and stimulating
environment in which they can play and learn outside of school hours
- Childminders - usually looking after children under 12 in the childminder's own home and
often collecting school-aged children from a nearby school
- Nannies - providing childcare in your own home and looking after children of any age

You don't always need academic qualifications, but it's useful to have 3 GCSE's/S grades
at grades A-C/Levels 1-3 or equivalent. The following qualifications allow you to work with
children under supervision:

-CACHE Level 2 Certificate in Child Care and Education
-City & Guilds Level 2 Progression Award in Early Years Care and Education
-BTEC Certificate in Early Years Care and Education
-BTEC First Diploma in Early Years
-NVQ Level 2 in Early Years Care and Education awarded by CACHE, BTEC, and City
and Guilds

Further qualifications allow you to work unsupervised:
-CACHE Level 3 Diploma in Child Care and Education. Many colleges ask for GCSEs/S
grades or the equivalent
-BTEC National Diploma in Early Years. You may need four GCSEs/S grades (A-C/1-3)
-NVQ Level 3 in Early Years Care and Education awarded by CACHE, Edexcel, and City
& Guilds
-SVQ Level 3 in Early Years Care and Education or the HNC in Childcare and Education

When looking at these courses throughout the country we found very few part-time course
options. Preston College in Lancashire do a part -time course -" CACHE Level 3
Award/Certificate/Diploma in Childcare and Education". However without knowing your
previous educational background i.e. the courses and qualifications you already have, it's
hard to say what level you would be put on. It also depends on your age - if you're 19 or
over then you may have to pay. Other circumstances include your income, whether you
are on benefits or not as you may not have to pay then, or pay only so much, where you
live, to see which courses are available in your area and so on. We suggest you contact
your local FE College and ask there or perhaps contact us again with more details so we
can be more specific.

With the type of career you want to go into then you wouldn't be able to study from home.
This is because for the jobs in childcare you need to undertake supervised work
placements directly working with babies and children in a variety of settings and for a
substantial amount of hours.

To get a job in a nursery before doing any of the qualifications would really depend on the
experience you have had already in those kind of settings. You can draw upon your
experience as a mother but need to consider if you have had any other experience as well.
Also consider the skills you may need. Such skills would include:

- To love and understand children, and be able to relate to them.
- To be patient, adaptable, firm and consistent.
- To be physically fit with great stamina.
- To be observant, imaginative, enthusiastic, lively and fun-loving.
- To be able to communicate with parents, carers, children and other professionals.
- To be aware of health and safety issues.
- To be able to work in a team and be trustworthy.
- To be able to stay calm at all times.

A nursery may take you on and put you through the various qualifications, however
childcare employers are much stricter nowadays with their employees in terms of
qualifications and experience so you may find it hard to get paid employment if you haven't
the specific qualification already. However it's worth asking them directly.

Vacancies are advertised in many places, including local newspapers and specialist
magazines. You can also find them online - www.nurseryworld.co.uk or
www.childworks.co.uk and on local council websites.

Volunteering in a nursery setting would be an ideal opportunity for you to gain some
valuable experience. Working as a volunteer would mean you could work as little or as
many hours as you wanted once negotiated with the nursery and then they may put you
through training as well such as health and safety, induction, first aid and so on. It also
means that if any jobs do come up they may take you on as a paid employee then. As we
don't know where you live we can't give specific information on nurseries near you but you
could look in your local Yellow Pages - www.yell.com. You could also look on
www.doit.org.uk for volunteering opportunities as well.

With regards to carer's allowance you are right in that if you went into a full-time course or
apprenticeship you would lose the money. Therefore you may have to weigh up which is
more important - the allowance or career. Have you family that can help you out with
childcare through the day if you need it whilst you're at college? If your son is already
attending school then perhaps this will give you time to undertake some voluntary work
and then perhaps move on to paid work once you gain experience.

We think it might also be important for you to check out that you are claiming all the
benefits you are entitled to. Without knowing if you work already or not, your housing
situation and so on it's not possible for us to say. However you can visit your local
JobCentrePlus or Citizens Advice Bureau and ask there. If you are unsure where your
nearest ones are you could check out :

www.jobcentreplus.co.uk
www.citizensadvicebureau.org.uk

Once again we are sorry that we cannot be more specific, if you would like more
information please contact again through www.q2a.co.uk with more information and
hopefully we can help you further.

Best Wishes

q2a

Expert advice and every precaution has been taken to ensure that the information in this answer is trustworthy and reliable, but the publishers do not hold themselves responsible for any inaccuracy as information can go out of date very quickly.  This page gives general guidance only and should not be treated as a complete and authoritative statement of the law.  With regard to suggested weblinks given in this reply please note that Lancashire County Council is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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